Jul 7, 2003, 11:30 AM
Post #1 of 14
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Handles check
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I was recently visiting another DZ a very experienced (many thousands of jumps) instructor/coach had to pull silver after failing to do a handles check prior to exit. He said the worst thing was that he had just told the novice he was coaching to do a handles check and failed to do one himself. PC handle was jammed in the BOC.
I saved myself either a reserve ride or a low pull over the weekend when I found my PC handle jammed into the BOC on a routine handles check. They do work.
Same thing as Skymonkey. I check my handles, actually touching them in the proper order, hacky, oh shit, and plan B. Check my connections points (leg, leg, chest) and look/spin my 3 rings on EVERY dive. The thing on my back wants to kill me and I REFUSE to let it. I know it will the first chance it gets!
It was common practice before each jump to rotate the individual rings which help comprise the 3-ring release system. The rationale was this clears debris such as mud or pea gravel from the attached webbing and preserves the system's mechanical advantage. Spinning the rings also enables a jumper to survey his rings for damage.
At the dropzone where I jump, we are taught not to rotate our 3-rings unless we experience an extraordinary event, such as slamming a riser in a car door or face planting ourselves in the peas, aside from performing routine maintenance inspections. Otherwise, spinning the 3-rings only serves to accelerate wear on the release system, since it involves rubbing metal across nylon. Industry people who have visited our dropzone have concurred in this view.
I'm going to disagree with Jumpy on his reasoning for rotating the rings. "...If you leave the 3-ring in the same position all the time it can bend the middle ring making it harder or maybe even impossible to cutaway..." A bent ring is an extraordinarily unusual situation and means either a manufacturing defect, or a hugely hard opening (i.e., put you in the hospital).
Rotating rings made sense if you got some of the soft rings made back in the 1980s. Otherwise, fingering rings just leaves hand oils on them which accelerates rusting. So unless you are jumping 1980s vintage risers, the only reason to spin rings is to keep you amused during the ride to altitude.
If you leave the 3-ring in the same position all the time it can bend the middle ring making it harder or maybe even impossible to cutaway bad juju
Spinning your rings that often is bad juju as well. Oil from your fingers adheres to your rings, which attracts dirt, which damages webbing. Spinning them once a weekend (or after slamming it around...bad skydiver!) is sufficient to make sure you're not "bending" your rings.
billvon (D 16479)
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Jul 8, 2003, 8:50 AM
Post #14 of 14
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Back in NY a few people did this. You could always tell who did it; they had a black ring of corrosion around their middle 3-rings where the coating had worn off from the incessant spinning. One guy had actually notched his harness rings a bit from the friction.
bad juju 
